paranoid
adjective
para·noid
ˈper-ə-ˌnȯid 
ˌpa-rə-
variants
or less commonly paranoidal
ˌper-ə-ˈnȯi-dᵊl
ˌpa-rə-
1
: characterized by or resembling paranoia or paranoid schizophrenia
a paranoid psychiatric patient
2
: characterized by suspiciousness, persecutory trends, or megalomania
behaving in a paranoid manner with accusations of persecutions
3
: extremely fearful
was so paranoid that he was afraid to walk the streets
paranoid
noun
Examples of paranoid in a Sentence
I guess I was just being paranoid.
She's a little paranoid about her job.
It's nothing more than a paranoid fantasy.
Recent Examples on the Web
After Family Ties, Gross became known for his role as eccentric and paranoid survivalist Burt Gummer in the Tremors franchise of movies and spinoff TV series.
—
Dylan Kickham, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Dec. 2025
But the Ellison family has put CBS News under a deep shadow, one Weiss’ internal adversaries are paranoid about.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 23 Dec. 2025
The series, which is produced by A24 for Peacock, stars Linda Cardellini as Pam and has been described as a psychological, paranoid '70s-type thriller.
—Stacy Lambe, PEOPLE, 23 Dec. 2025
One wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI alleges that a 56-year-old Connecticut man murdered his mother and took his own life after ChatGPT repeatedly affirmed his paranoid notions about people in his life orchestrating a conspiracy against him.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 14 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for paranoid
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Dylan Kickham, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Dec. 2025
But the Ellison family has put CBS News under a deep shadow, one Weiss’ internal adversaries are paranoid about.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 23 Dec. 2025
The series, which is produced by A24 for Peacock, stars Linda Cardellini as Pam and has been described as a psychological, paranoid '70s-type thriller.
—Stacy Lambe, PEOPLE, 23 Dec. 2025
One wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI alleges that a 56-year-old Connecticut man murdered his mother and took his own life after ChatGPT repeatedly affirmed his paranoid notions about people in his life orchestrating a conspiracy against him.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 14 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for paranoid
Cite this Entry
“Paranoid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paranoid. Accessed 31 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
paranoid
1 of 2 adjective
para·noid
ˈpar-ə-ˌnȯid
variants
also paranoidal
1
: characterized by or resembling paranoia or paranoid schizophrenia
2
: characterized by suspiciousness, persecutory trends, or megalomania
paranoid
2 of 2 noun
: one affected with paranoia or paranoid schizophrenia
called also paranoiac
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